#yoshida akimi. ikeda riyoko. the others from the group of six or whatever it's called | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

daisyachain · 1 year

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the shinigami/incense performances through the journey into the underworld were some really beautiful episodes that brought the story back to the smaller scale where it works best. A small drama with some well-acted recitations. The slow subtle drift of Miyokichi and Sukeroku back in through the supernatural cracks primes us for the resolution of the underworld episode. The candle imagery is stunning. Then watching the promise break apart as Kiku finds himself surpassing Miyokichi and Sukeroku’s failures, in death as life, puts the final button on it.

which makes the last episode feel all the more weird. Little Shin is now a twerp. The third (3rd) female character in the series gets pushed off to the side with an occupation of: wearing skirt and interests of: being cute. Konatsu is at least a rakugoka now, but she’s silent on stage as Yotaro gives the big speech. Then the real thing that sticks in the craw is the ? reveal? of Shin’s parentage.

two options. One, Shin isn’t related to Kiku and his resemblance is the same cosmic echo that marks the Sukeroku line, from Yakumo Seventh’s rival through Shin-san through Yotaro. Sensei’s insistence that they must be related is evidence of how short-sighted he is, and Konatsu is playing with him.

Two, Shin is related to Kiku, the aforementioned defiance of biology gets overturned, and things get dark. It’s not that the show isn’t the type that would go there. You’ve got skeletons, candles, ghosts, that sort of poisonous rotting relationship is in line with the other imagery presented (it feels wrong to call it ‘gothic’ with how strongly the show is rooted in unrelated literary tradition, but if it were gothic, it would be). It’s that the tone of the scene is jarring. You could reveal that Konatsu pursued her hated semi-abusive guardian figure and have it fit into the horrific aspects that float around the flashback timeline and its murders suicide. It’s not played like that. If anything, it’s played for laughs, a funny little cap on the intertwined names instead of the dark twist that it should be

#kelsey liveblogs anime #sgrs has shoujo syndrome not necessarily in a bad way #more in a 'this author is clearly used to writing in a specific genre and style'#'moving the same tropes and techniques to a different genre means they're interpreted without that framework'#'and sometimes don't hold up as they would in their home country' kind of way #the way the m/m/f triangle plays out. the ways in which miyokichi and konatsu are neglected. the undertones to yakumo eighth's relationships #with his apprentices (yotaro and konatsu both). have echoes of the shoujo greats #yoshida akimi. ikeda riyoko. the others from the group of six or whatever it's called #that well-loved playbook is taken out for the more mainstream ('mainstream' well less girl ghetto) sgrs #but going in viewing it just as a show not a shoujo...the more melodramatic elements can be jarring in an otherwise real-feeling series #while at the same time. it's a lot more fun to watch the dreamy candlelit subtextual romance than it would be #to watch the bone dry historical fiction that it could have been in someone else's hands

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